A correlative study of CT findings and pulmonary function test in patients with SARS in the recovery phase following hospital discharge / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the appearance of CT in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the recovery phase, and to study the correlation of CT findings with pulmonary function.Methods From June to August in 2003, 100 patient with confirmed SARS accepted examination in our hospital. Among them, 91 patients (39 men, 52 women, mean age 36.4 years, age range 19- 66 years) received CT examination and pulmonary function test on the same day. The interval between SARS onset and the examination ranged from 52 to 125 days (mean 87.4 days). CT appearances of pulmonary parenchymal abnormalities including distribution and extent of involvement were quantitatively analyzed, and four levels on CT scan including the aortic arch, the tracheal carina, the pulmonary venous confluence, and the dome of right diaphragm were selected to score the lesions. The correlation of CT scores with the results of pulmonary function tests was studied.Results Of the 91 cases, 47 patients had normal CT appearance in the recovery phase, whereas the other 44 patients still had parenchymal abnormalities, including residual ground-glass opacification and reticular shadow. CT visual score had correlation with DLco% ( r =-0.618, P